Public Statements

Letter to President Obama

Letter

I am writing to you regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline and the urgent need for this project to be approved. The pipeline represents an enormous and undeniable opportunity for job-creation and economic stimulus at a time when the nation is sorely in need of both. The creation of the pipeline will also help to ensure our nation's future energy needs are met with resources from politically stable regions of the world right here in North America.

Independent studies show that the Keystone XL Pipeline would add 250,000 permanent jobs for U.S. workers and more than $100 billion in annual total expenditures. In Oklahoma alone, the pipeline is expected to add $1.2 billion in new business activity, increase personal income by $874 million and make significant increases in both state and local tax revenue as well as gross state product. Additionally, Oklahoma could see more than $667 million in property taxes to county and other local governments during the operating life of the pipeline.

As the numbers indicate, the Keystone XL project is of immediate and great value to the U.S. economy as well as the economies of individual states. Yet despite the obvious benefits of moving forward, some environmentalists seem bent on delaying or even preventing the construction of this pipeline.

This delay comes despite the fact that the State Department's Final Environmental Impact Statement reported that by including various special conditions developed specifically for the pipeline, the Keystone XLPipeline "would have a degree of safety greater than any typically constructed domestic oil pipeline systemunder current regulations and a degree of safety along the entire length of the pipeline system that would besimilar to that required in high consequence areas as defined in the regulations."

Pipelines are already the safest, most reliable, economical, and environmentally sensitive way to transport crude oil and petroleum products in North America. The Keystone XL project has been deemed similarly safe; and no convincing evidence has been presented to suggest otherwise.

Furthermore, considerable work has already been done to address environmental concerns. Every statealong the proposed pipeline route has been involved in determining the most environmentally sensitive pathfor construction. This specifically includes rerouting the proposed path through portions of Nebraska toaccount for environmental concerns regarding the Ogallala aquifer.

In closing, the Keystone XL pipeline presents a tremendous opportunity for America to create jobs and enhance energy security, both of which promote economic and geopolitical stability. I enthusiastically recommend that your administration reconsider and embrace the considerable potential for economic stimulus represented by this project and approve it immediately.

Thank you for your consideration and attention to this important issue.